Of course, a large variable in terms of how successful the finals are in regards to TV ratings is based on who the teams are.

The FOX broadcast of Real Madrid versus Atletico Madrid delivered a 1.1/3 household rating/share with an average audience of 1.9 million viewers, +22% in rating and 36% in audience compared to last year’s Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund clash (0.9//2, 1.4 million) also on FOX. The match peaked at 2.2 million viewers from 5:00-5:15 PM ET during extra time.

FOX Deportes’ coverage of the 2014 Champions League final was the No. 1 Spanish-language sports program for the day with 1.2 million Hispanic viewers.

About The Author

Publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris founded the site in 2005. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Plus he has made appearances on NPR, BBC World, CBC, BBC Five Live, talkSPORT and beIN SPORT.
Harris, who was born and raised in Wales, has lived in Florida since 1984, and supported Swansea City since 1979. Last but not least, he got engaged during half-time of a MLS game.

31 Comments

BrianMay 30, 2014

Of the 1.9 million viewers how many hit the mute button or found alternatives to the audio? That would be an interesting statistic.

Despite all the complaining, the ratings continue to rise. Shows that the game itself is bigger than jokers doing the commentary. And as dull as Chelsea are,had they made the final the numbers would have been even higher

No, I choose not to complain and get all worked up about things I have no control over. Do I thins Gus is good? No. Do I think Wynalda’s commentary adds anything to the game? No. But Gus is not going anywhere so get used to it. I doubt that either Fox or Gus uses this web site to decide whether Gus should broadcast soccer games.

The biggest reason I refuse to listen to Gus Johnson and Eric Wynalda, as well as a few other American commentators, is not because they aren’t very experienced (everyone needs to start sometime) but because of their use of soccer terminology that is alien to the sport.

Listen to soccer commentary in any English-speaking country and the terms used to describe the action is the same. None uses terms like “line drive” or “in transition” which are meaningful in baseball and basketball respectively. Would baseball fans appreciate listening to commentators say “it didn’t make the boundary” or “that was hit to silly mid-off”. That would be silly, wouldn’t it? So why should soccer fans be expected to put up with terms alien to the sport? Every other English-speaking country conforms to the same norms of soccer terminology, why not America?

if you havent noticed but american english is different than the queens english , which other nations use. also why should we conform to other nations? we are the freaking United States, we are the ones who set the standards.

Any football broadcast leading to a World Cup will always have an increase in viewership. To even try to relate the numbers and the Gus Johnson debacle is idiotic.

Fox will have to do something with their broadcast.. Viewership will demand it.. Complaints were WAY up.. And nothing the Fox spin machine could do anything about it.

More viewers=more complaints

Fox can ignore it to a point, but aside from the Fox pr placed articles the last couple of weeks there have been som real harsh criticisms of the Fox soccer broadcasts. They will have to change, because it will be very easy to turn to Spanish for the World Cup and it’s not on Fox deportes it’s Univision.

So the Fox pr girl can spin this all she wants but they know these numbers should have been more like 2011

It sickens me to learn that Fox have got the rights to the US open from 2015. If Shanks cares to know why we are all so upset with their sh*tty soccer coverage, maybe he should let the clueless screaming idiot try his hand at golf.

I can hear it now. MASHED POTATOES! GET IN THE HOLE! PAR! DOUBLE BOGEY! He would last two minutes. So why is it acceptable for him to cover soccer?